Rotary motor



Aug. 16, 1932.

w. E. MORSE ROTARY MOTOR 4 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed April 50. 1929 INVENTORWET/140715;, BY

ATTO R N EY WITNESS w. E. MORSE ROTARY MOTOR Aug. 16, 1932.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 30. 1929 WITNESS INVENTOR TIE/1407's eATTORNEY Aug. 16, 1932. w. E. MORSE ROTARY MOTOR Filed April 30, 1929WITNESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 16, 1932. w.- E. MORSE 1,871,462

ROTARY MOTOR Filed April'ZO. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 j'fa.

INVENTOR mzMome mveo ATTORN EY WITNESS Patented Aug. 16, 1932 WILLIAM E.MORSE, or RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA v ROTARY MOTOR Applieationfiled April80, 1929. Serial NO. 359,356.

This invention relates to rotary motors of the internal combustion type.I

An Object of the invention is the provision of a rotary motor in whichthe expansive force of the combustible fluid is directed against anabutment of a moving element having a plurality of diametricallydisposed grooves adapted to be alternately placed in communication witha compression and firing chamber. V Another object of the. invention istheprovision of a rotary motor having a cylinder enclosed by a casingand provided with a plurality of diametrically disposed grooves in whichthe end walls of the grooves are inclined so that said walls will engageand progressively move outwardly pairs of spring-pressed slidingabutments having their free ends normally seated within the grooves, afiring chamber formed in an enlargement of th casing and spanning thegrooves so that an end wall of one groove will operate to compress thefluid in the chamber where it is fired and passed through i adiametrically disposed groove where the expanding combustion gases .willact on an end wall of the last-mentioned groove and cause rotation ofthe cylinder.

1 A further object of the invention is the provision of a rotary. motorhaving a cylinder revolvably mounted within a casing in which isincorporated a combustion and compression chamber, said cylinder havingdia metrically disposed grooves, the walls of i which co-operate withsliding abutments and the outer wall of the combustion chamber to definesaid combustion chamber, the casing having an inlet port for theadmission of a combustible fluid to one of the grooves and an exhaustport adapted to be placed incommunication by the other groove.

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, in view of the accompanying drawingsforming a part of the specification; nevertheless, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not confined to the disclosure, beingsusceptible of such changes and modifications which shall define nomaterial departure from the salient features of the invention asexpressed in the appended the line 4- .2 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is'a vertical section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 2, I

Figure 6 is a vertical section taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 2, r

Figure is a view in perspective ofthe rotary englne, I

Figure 8 is a fragmentary vertical section showing a modified form ofthe invention, 7

Figure 9 is a vertical section taken along the line 9-9 of Figure l, and

Figure 10 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section showing amodified form of the rotor. 6

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1O designates a housingformed of a pair of sections 11 and 12. The section 11 has a waterjacket 13 embracing a firing chamber 14 while the section 12 has a waterjacket 15 embracing a diametrically Opposite 80 portion of thecasingaThe section 11 has flanges 16 bolted to a flange 17 of the section 12and both flanges are secured to supporting beams '18 forming part of theframe a I Mounted within the casing 10 is a cylinder or motor 20 whichis firmly secured to a shaft 21. This shaft has its ends mounted inbearings 22 and 23.

A pair of circumferential grooves 25" and 9 26 are formed in the'outerface of the cylinder and are designated, respectively, as the compression and firing grooves. A segmental ring 27 is mounted within thegroove 25 and thereby closes approximately one-half of the annulargroove, leaving a space 28 which is adapted to receive the combustiblefluid from the intake 29. The groove 26 is filled for approximatelyone-half its length by'means of asectional ring30,'leaving a space 31which is termed the firing or exhausting channel of the rotor.

The ends of the sectional member 27, as shown at 32 and 33, are inclinedto provide tapering walls for the semi-circular channel 28. The ends 34and 35 of the sectional member 30 are likewise tapered and form inclinedwalls for the ends of the channel 31 for a purpose which will bepresently explained.

t will be noted that the sectional members 27 and 30 are secured bymeans of bolts 36 to the rotor 20. As a matter of fact instead offorming the annular grooves 25 and 26 in the rotor 20 and then filling aportion of the groove with the sectional members 27 and 30,respectively, the channels 28 and 31 may be cut into the outer face ofthe rotor at diametrically opposite points and approximately the sameresults will be had.

A pair of housings 4O and-41 are mounted on the casing 10 and uponopposite sides of the chamber 14 and in such a manner that the innerends of the casing 40 will be in communication with the groove 26 whilethe inner end of the housing41 will be in open communication with thegroove 25. .The

outer end of each housing is closed by a cover 42 removably attached tothe housing in any approved manner.

A pair of abutments 43 and 43 are slidably mounted within the housing 40and have stems, respectively, 44 and 44, movable through the cover 42.Coil springs 45 embrace the stem and are adapted to be embraced betweenthe outer ends of their respective abutments and the inner face of thecover 42.. The inner ends of the abutments are circumferentially alinedand adapted to normally ride within the channel 31 until engaged by thesectional member 30. The inclined face 35 of the member 30 is adapted toslip under the curved portion 46 of the inner end of the abutment 43 andalso beneath the curved portion 47 of the abutment 43 and graduallyforce the abutment outwardly against the tension of the springs 45during the revolution of the rotor 20. The housing 40 is locatedadjacent the-exhaust passage 48 which is adapted to communicate with thechannel 31. 1

Referring more particularly to Figure 5 it will be seen thatthe housing41 contains a pair of sliding abutments 50 and 51. The inner end of theabutment 50 is curved at 52 so that, the inclined face 32 of the member27 may slide readily beneath the abutment and force the same outwardly-This is true of the abutment .51 which also has a curved portion 53 tofacilitate the insertion of the inclined face 32 of the member 27. Theabutments 50 and 51 are respectively provided with stems 54 and 55embraced by springs 56 which .tend to maintain the abutments inengagement with the rotor 20.

At one side of the combustion chamber 14 is placed a sealing plate 60mounted with a housing 61 which is in communication with the groove 25.A spring 62 embracing the stem 63 secured to the plate 60 maintains saidplate in engagement with the outer surface of the rotor 20. Said plateis adapted to span the space between a pair of sealing rings 64 and 65which aremounted within grooves in the rotor 20. These rings are securedby means of bolts or screws 66 to the annular wall of the housing 10. Asealing plate 67 is adapted to normally engage the outer face of therotor 20 and is maintained in engagement with said rotor by meansof aspring 68 embracing a stem 69 secured to the plate 67. Said plate islocated within a housing 70, and is provided with a lubricating passage71 so that lubricant supplied through a passage 72 to the housing willbe evenly distributed over that portion of the rotor 20 which is engagedby the plate 67 The plate 60 has a passage 73 for supplying lubricantfrom the housing 61 to the outer face ofthe rotor 20. Lubricant issupplied through the housing 61 by means of a pipe 74 which may beconnected with a source of lubricant under pressure. The plate 60 spansthe groove 60, the ring 64 and a ring 75 secured to the housing 10 andadapted to seat within a groove 76 formed in the rotor 20.

The sliding abutments 43 and 43 are re spectively provided withlongitudinal passages 76 and 77 which are supplied with lubricant in anyapproved manner under pressure. The sliding abutments 50 and 51 arerespec tively provided with longitudinal passages 78 and 79 throughwhich lubricant is supplied to the face of the rotor 20. A conduit 80 isconnected with the housing 41 for supplying lubricant under pressure tothe conduits 78 and 79.

The stem 44 is provided with a pin 82 re ceived within a slot 83 of alever 84 pivoted at 85 on a stem 86 carried by the housing 40. At theouter end of the lever 84 is secured a cam member 87 engageable with oneend of a sliding bar 88 mounted in guides 89. This bar is spring-pressedto maintain it in normal engagement with the cam member 87. This baroperates a switch 90 which makes and breaks the circuit to a spark plug91. The contact breaker represents but a portion of the ignition systembut it will be appreciated that the usual elements of any wellknownigni-' tion system may be employed andmay include the high and lowpotential coils and a condenser." Y I In a modified form of thestructure'shown in Fig.8, a sealing strip 94 is mounted within a recess95 formed between the housing, 40 and the outer wall 96 of thecompression chamber 14 and a plate 97 which is secured to the housing 40and the wall 96. A spring 98 tends to maintain the strip 94 inengagement with the rotor 20.

It will be appreciated that the annular grooves 25 and 26 may berectangular in cross section as shown in Figures 1 to 6, inclusive, orthey may be semi-circular or angularlyshaped as shown at 100 and 101. Inthis case the sectional member 102 has its side Walls shaped to conformto the inclination of the side walls of the groove 100 and 101.

The operation of my device is as follows: Either a heavy fuel inconnection with compressed air or a combustible mixture may be employedfor supplying the motive fluid to the engine. WVhen a combustiblemixture is employed the carbureter is placed in communication wit-l1 theintake 29 and if necessary a pump may be employed for withdrawing themixture from the carbureter and forcing it into the intake.

Whatever method is employed for supplying the combustible fluid to theengine it is directed through the intake 29 into the channel 28 and asthe rotor 20 is revolved the inclined face of the wedge-shaped portion32 of the member 27 moves beneath the sliding abutments 50 and 51forcing them outwardly while beginning the closure of the intake port29. The combustible fluid being located between the wedge-shaped member32 and 33 is carried around until the face 33 enters the combustion orcompression chamber 14. At this time the full length of the channel 28passes through the combustion chamber until the face 33 enters saidchamber. At this time the combustible mixture is compressed in the smallspace of the chamber. The sliding abutments 50 and 51 are then in theposition shown in Figure 5. About the time that the face 34 of themember 30 is passing through the combustion chamber 14 the compressedfluid is ignited and acts on the face 34 of the member 30 during theexpansion of the gases. At the same time the face 32 of the piston 27has passed through the chamber 14 so that the expanding gases will haveno effect upon the compression piston.

The face 35 of the member 30 enters the combustion chamber and sweeps itclear of exhaust gases and said exhaust gases are then confined in thechannel 31 of the rotor 20 and will exhaust when the rotor reaches theposition shown in Figure 6. By this construction the channel 28 acts asthe intake while the face 32 of the member 27 compresses the combustiblemixture. The channel 31 receives the exhaust gases while the expandinggases act on the face 34 of the member 30. It will be noted that themember 27 is effective for the intake stroke and for the compressionstroke while the member 30 is effective for the expansion stroke andexhaust.

Instead of the grooves 25 and 26 being formed in the rotor 20 and thenfilling a portion .of the grooves with a section of the members 27 and30, respectively, the said members may be secured at diametricallyopposite points on the rotor so that they will ride in grooves cutin theoverlying casting or housing 12 whereby approximately the same resultswill be obtained.

What I claim is 1. A rotary engine comprising a rotor, a casing housingthe rotor and provided with a compression chamber, said rotor having apair of spaced annular grooves, a semi-circular sealing strip secured ineach groove and provided with tapered ends, one strip being locateddirectly opposite the other strip, one of the grooves forming an intakeand compression channel, the other groove forming an expansion andexhaust channel, the compression chamber extending across the rotor withthe chamber tapering from the firing and compression channel to andacross the expansion channel, a pair of co-operating spring-pressedabutments for each channel having the free ends thereof normallydisposed in their respective channels and slidably mounted in an offsetof the casing, the

casing having an intake port and an exhaust port.

2. A rotary engine comprising a rotor, a casing housing the rotor andprovided with a compression chamber, said rotor having a pair of spacedannular grooves, a semi-circu lar sealing strip secured in each grooveand provided with tapered ends, one strip being located directlyopposite the other strip, one of the grooves forming an intake and com-vpression channel, the other groove forming an expansion and exhaustchannel, the compression chamber extending across the rotor with thechamber tapering from the firing and compression channel to and acrossthe expansion channel, a pair of co-operating spring-pressed abutmentsfor each channel having the free ends thereof normally disposed in theirrespective channels and slidably mounted in an offset of the casing, thecasing having an intake port and an exhaust port, the strip in onechannel closing the remainder of the channel to the combustion chamberwhile the other channel is in communication with said combustionchamber.

